This 81-page document is an early report of the Texas Geological Survey. The Texas legislature established and first funded the Texas Geological Survey in 1858 under the direction of Benjamin Franklin Shumard. The Survey continued operations until 1861 when the Civil War broke out. In 1866, funding for the survey was reestablished and this preliminary report was issued by S.B. Buckley, State Geologist at the time. The report was preliminary in part due to significant damage caused during the war where the "Geological Rooms, having been used in the manufacture of percusion [sic] caps during the late war, the cabinet was very much injured, the specimens were thrown in heaps, covered with dust, their labels displaced, and many of the most valuable taken away." Nonetheless, the report calls out the significant petroleum opportunities in the state with easier access than those wells found in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Buckley notes "the Northern coal fields and the lignite belts of Southern and Eastern Texas show that we have large quantities of petroleum-making materials...those who are fortunate enough to tap them will realize fortunes" (pp. 29-30). Printed by Jo. Walker at the "State Gazette" office in Austin. Paper wrappers. We found only one past sales record in the last 50 years.

This example is inscribed by Charles Lovenskiold, a baron who immigrated from Denmark in 1847 and moved to Corpus Christi in 1855. During the Civil War, he commanded the Walker Mounted Rifles, an independent Texas cavalry company. After the war, Lovenskiold was active in state politics and served on the Corpus Christi city council.

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Condition: B+

Text is mostly clean with a hint of light toning. There are a few minor chips on the front paper wrapper and a large chip to the rear wrapper. There is a manuscript signature on the front wrapper.